3000km+ opening on 144 MHz between the United Arab Emirates and Europe - 5th June 2021

Almost but not quite:  On the 5th of June 2021, Stamen LZ1KU in Bulgaria and Oleg A65BR in the United Arab Emirates almost managed to complete a FT8 contact on 144 MHz over a distance of 3,280kms.

While both stations managed to get some successful decodes, they were unable to complete a contact on this occasion.

The composite screen above from LZ1KU shows a decoded FT8 signal from A65BR at -20dB. An earlier decode at 14:48 UTC was at -16dB. The exchange shows A65BR giving a signal of -13dB for LZ1KU.

2021-06-05 14:48:58Z   LZ1KU Stamen FT8 144445 -16 dB 0.3 s Freq 1369 Hz > CQ A65BR LL75

In the examples above, the FT8 signal would have been below what is really audible to the human ear so a contact on CW would have been very unlikely.

A65BR also spotted LZ1KU on the DX-Cluster...

 Spotter Freq. DX Time Info Country
A65BR 144174 LZ1KU 14:37 05 Jun 21 LL75SL<ES>KN32AH CQ HRD Bulgaria

LZ1KU was reported to be using 'full power' to 4 x 12-element Yagi array while A65BR was using 50-watts to a 7-element.

Amazingly, IZ7AUH in the south of Italy also managed to get a decode from A65BR over a distance of almost 3,900kms.

Propagation Mode: Both paths were well in excess of the 2300kms or so we might expect from one hop Sporadic-E so how can we explain it?

The tropo prediction map from Pascal, F5LEN shows some excellent conditions in the Arabian Gulf so it is probably no great suprise that the 3000km+ paths were in that direction.

One scenario is that there was a tropo duct over the Arabian Sea and this then coupled into a single hop Sporadic-E opening to Bulgaria. For the Italian station, it would require another few hundred kms of tropo at the western end of the circuit to complete the path.

Another scenario was that it was Chordal Hop Sporadic-E with the 144 MHz signal bouncing off two Sp-E clouds that were in just the right location. There was an extensive Sporadic-E opening from Israel into Europe so the MUF was high in the region.

And just to add another variable into the mix, the International Space Station was around at the same time (or at least I think it was based on an observer in Ankara).

It's hard to know for sure what the exact propagation mode was. It's a bit like a science experiment and we have just two data points. It's easy to make assumptions but we just don't know. 

For me, the main thing is that it is yet another example of a 3000km+ path on the 144 MHz band.

144 MHz signal from the Faroe Islands heard 3000kms away in Bulgaria during Geminid Meteor Shower - Dec 2020

Every year, the Geminid meteor shower peaks around the 14th of December and many VHF radio amateurs make contacts by bouncing signals off the meteor trails left behind. The maximum distance tends to be similar to Sporadic-E i.e. in the region of 2300 kms.

During this years Geminids, Stamen LZ1KU announced a suprise reception on 144 MHz of Jon OY9JD on the Faroe Islands, a distance of 3075 kms!

A composite of the screenshot from LZ1KU is shown below...

As can be seen, the mode used was MSK144 and there is one decode from OY9JD.

On an online forum later, OY9JD did confirm that he was on air at that time...

According to info provided by SO3Z, Jon OY9JD is using an ICOM IC970 with 500W into an 8 el Yagi 3m long. LZ1KU is using an array of 4 x 12 elements and 1.7kW.

Even though there was no two way contact on this occasion, it is still an impressive distance for 144 MHz. Remember that 3075 kms is roughly the distance across the North Atlantic between Ireland and Newfoundland.

In fact, 3075 kms to the west from OY9JD actually reaches the remote areas of Labrador in NE Canada.

Mode of Propagation??? (Updated)... 

(Theory 1) Double Hop Meteor Scatter... Most meteor trails capable of supporting propagation of 144 MHz signals last for a fraction of a second at best with the occasional one lasting several seconds.

Was it a case that that on this particular occasion, two meteor trails were in just the right spot happened at the same time?

In other words, the MSK144 signal from OY9JD was reflected off the ionised trail of one meteor, then hit off another trail several hundred kms later and then was picked up in Bulgaria.

As you might imagine, this isn't that common as it requires there to be two meteor trails to be just in the right place and at just the right time.

(Theory 2) Tropo Assist?... As for did tropo play a part in the path? The conditions looked pretty poor as can be seen from the image below.

It seems unlikely that any sort of tropo ducting played any part in this reception report.

Theory 3... Refection from the International Space Station??? It would seem as if the International Space Station (ISS) was above the horizon at the same time.

In response to my original theory that it was double hop meteor scatter, Alejandro LU8YD from Argentina writes... 

"My opinion is that the QSO analysis is not correct. You have to check the location of the ISS space station at the time of the QSO and you will see that it was crossing the path between stations LZ and OY. In my opinion it is a QSO by Spacecraft scatter and not by meteor scatter. Reflections of amateur radio signals by the ISS as a passive reflector has occurred before. Despite this, it must be considered an extraordinary QSO and achievement by LZ1KU and OY9JD for which I congratulate them.

Please send my regards and congratulations to Stamen and Jon

Kind regards Alejandro LU8YD"

After receiving Alejandro's message, I checked out the position of the ISS on the morning of the 14th of December.

The beam heading from the Faroe Islands to Bulgaria is 147 degrees. The time stamp on the MSK144 signal was 11:03 UTC.

It's not a perfect match but the ISS was certainly in the same general area of sky at the time. The ISS reached a maximum elevation of 10 degrees during that pass and it was probably around 4-5 degrees at 11:03 UTC.

This is the view of the pass from Bulgaria...

From the Bulgarian perspective with a higher pass, the time and beam heading seem closer aligned. The Faroe Islands are on a beam heading of 327 degrees from Bulgaria.

Considering the size of the ISS and the size of the reflective surface, it has to considered a strong contender for the reception report.

However, I still have some questions. What about doppler shift? Would the doppler shift have moved the signals outside the receive passband of the receiver? What impact does doppler have on a MSK144 signal and the ability to decode it?

Conclusion (Updated)... My original thinking was that it was probably double hop meteor scatter. After all, there must be occasions when two meteors trails just happen to line up in the correct position at the same time.

The fact that the International Space Station was in the same area of sky at the same time must make this the most likely reason although in retrospect, I don't think we can be absolutely certain but it does seem likely.

I'd be inclined to say 90:10 in favour of refection off the ISS as opposed to double hop MS but others may have different opinions.

North Atlantic on 144 MHz??? ... Here is an intriguing thought: If the signal at 144 MHz can get 3075 kms from the Faroe Islands to Bulgaria was via double hop meteor scatter then why not across the North Atlantic from Ireland/UK to Newfoundland?